Wine Institute trade group hires Healdsburg wine veteran

Wine Institute hires local vintner

Honore Comfort on Monday will join the Wine Institute as its vice president of international marketing. She takes over from Linsey Simpson Gallagher, who is now chief executive officer of Visit Napa Valley.

A Healdsburg resident, Comfort had been executive director for the Sonoma County Vintner trade group for nine years. After leaving the vintners’ group in 2015, she joined Brack Mountain Wine Co. in Sebastopol as president of the family-owned winery, and later served as an executive-in-residence at Sonoma State University’s Wine Business Institute.

Tasting room opens in Carneros

The Calmére Estate Winery and tasting room in Carneros held its grand opening on March 29, the latest winery business from the Peju family.

In 2016, the family bought the 100-acre estate and winery at 2750 Las Amigas Road. Lisa and Ariana Peju are operating the winery. The property has ?38 acres planted with nine different pinot noir clonal varietals, since the family wants to promote its ?Burgundian-style premium wines.

Their parents, Tony and Herta Peju, founded Peju Province Winery in Rutherford more than 35 years ago.

The winery is open by reservation only, but the tasting room is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Local wineries win environmental awards

Silver Oak Cellars and Domaine Carneros won California Green Medals at the fifth annual Sustainable Winegrowing Leadership Awards.

The sponsors of the award are a consortium of winery groups: the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, California Association of Winegrape Growers, Wine Institute, Lodi Winegrape Commission, Napa Valley Vintners, Sonoma County Winegrowers and the Vineyard Team.

Silver Oak Cellars, located in both Healdsburg and Oakville, won the Leader Award for excelling in various sustainability areas. Its Oakville winery was the first winery to achieve the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum certification in 2016, and the Healdsburg winery followed two years later. Most of the energy used by its wineries are generated by on-site solar panels and all of the process water used at the Alexander Valley winery is treated and reused.

Domaine Carneros, in Napa, won the business award for sustainability that leads to efficiency and cost effectiveness. One example: the winery saves $75,000 a year in packaging costs by a program that encourages reuse of boxes and other items.

Compiled by Bill Swindell. Submit items to bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com.